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The Kid
With a crooked and gap-toothed grin as broad as the Flock is long, Buckley Starling has a penchant for mischief that is rivaled only by her compassion for others. Though she is reckless and rash, often acting purely in the present moment with little regard for the future, she is slowly coming to the realization that her actions can have consequences that might affect others as well as herself. As both a former pickpocket and ongoing troublemaker, she knows that earning the trust of those around her will not be an easy task, but is one she has dedicated herself to regardless. All in all, Buckley is, as her moniker suggests, a child; and despite her life's rocky and difficult foundations, her youthful innocence -- and her faith in the inherent goodness of all people -- remain untouched and whole in her heart. Background Though her love for each member of her family was intensely strong, it was not surprising that young Buckley's strongest bond was with her mother. While her father Graham and her elder brother Oliver tended to the livestock, nourishing the animals and fortifying their pens against the steadily increasing hellspawn activity, it fell upon her mother Allison to care for the youngest child, her brother Kip -- a duty that Buckley was always delighted to assist with. It was she who discovered the serenity that the soft wool of their family's sheep instilled in her infant brother, an effect that she only understood after realizing how soothing it was when she herself was wrapped in her mother's luxurious red scarf. On a particularly noisy day for Kip, Graham and Oliver took the youngest Starling to visit the sheep in their fields while Buckley laid down for a nap. When she awoke, she was startled to find that the fields of their home were aflame and filled to the brim with wicked-looking demons. Though she managed to narrowly avoid contact with the foul invaders, the grisly scene she found outside their home was far more horrifying than any hellspawn. Even when volunteers from the Flock came to evacuate survivors, Buckley refused to leave her mother's side, and had to be forcibly pried away from the charred and mangled body. Thinking that it might bring comfort to the frantic child, the volunteers sorrowfully presented her with the tattered red scarf from around the woman's neck, and Buckley immediately clung to it as tightly as she had her mother's remains. Once she was settled upon the Flock, Buckley was placed in an orphanage in the city of Megistus. The Dark City was a drastic and unwelcome change from the open fields and sunlight of her former home, and it did not take long for her to escape the orphanage, running away from both it and the city of Megistus for greener -- or at the very least, brighter -- pastures. But even away from the Dark City, the sky was not as cloudless as she had hoped. She was a child, alone on the back of an unfamiliar stone creature, with no experience in any manner of labor and no way to feed herself. As a means of survival, she took to petty thievery, stealing food, clothing, and various other necessities of living. Before she developed a knack for pickpocketing, she was caught in the act on numerous occasions. Her would-be victims often outright overlooked her negligible crimes, and frequently she would overhear them muttering that she was 'just a kid'. In addition to stealing their possessions, she took their nickname for her, adopting the moniker of Kid and using it in place of her name. For years, Buckley eked out a meager living on the streets of the Flock. She never stayed in a single city for more than a few months, disappearing and reappearing frequently to discourage the authorities from tracking her. It was not until a curious incident with a gold and white half-mask -- and the resulting bonds with the individuals that shared the experience with her -- that Buckley began to shed the callous exterior she had created that day in Dalven. Slowly, her defensive mechanism was lowering, and while this left her vulnerable to her enemies, it also left her open to her newfound friends. Miscellaneous Buckley's theme is Leaving the Nest by Teza Belmond. Buckley kissed a princess once. KidArt3.png|Buckley and her younger brother, Kip. KidArt2.png|Buckley with a hat because I like the Newsies aesthetic so sue me. KidArt1.png|Buckley looking off into the distance dramatically. KidArt4.png|Buckley as observed in her most natural state: with huge, gap-toothed grin. kidpain1.png|Buckley in a much less natural state: after being shot in the arm by her father. (Did I mention it was also the first time she saw him in ten years? Because it was.) Category:Player Characters Category:Flock Category:Cycle Three